IMS Health and IRI Forge Global Alliance In Consumer Health

IMS Health (NYSE: RX) and Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) today
announced a global alliance to provide industry-leading business
intelligence, analytics and consulting expertise on the consumer
health marketplace. The multi-year alliance establishes a seamless,
end-to-end view of three key market segments - prescription medicines,
over-the-counter products and consumer packaged goods - providing
clients with unique, new insights into consumer dynamics that are
driving today's healthcare decisions.

IMS is the world's leading provider of market intelligence to the
pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. IRI is a leading global
provider of market information, insights and decision solutions for
the consumer packaged goods, retail, and healthcare industries.

"This alliance leverages our two companies' respective strengths,
and enables us to enhance and expand our offerings backed by the
healthcare industry's most robust information, analytics and
consulting capabilities," said Gilles Pajot, IMS's chief operating
officer. "With a truly integrated view of consumer health marketplace
dynamics, our clients can make better decisions on how to identify
market opportunities, optimize portfolios and allocate resources to
drive growth. IMS and IRI already are working together successfully in
several key markets around the world, providing fresh, evidence-based
perspectives that support every aspect of marketing and sales decision
making."

At a time when consumers increasingly are empowered to make their
own healthcare decisions, the two companies will offer superior
insights into market dynamics - equipping clients with more
comprehensive information and analyses and innovative offerings to
help them launch new products, reposition existing brands, manage
sales teams and inventories, and reach the right prescribers,
retailers and consumers. With a deeper understanding of consumers'
purchasing behaviors and attitudes toward their health and well being,
clients can optimize their brand performance and promotional
investments across sales channels, markets and stakeholder groups.

The initial focus of the alliance will be on the U.S. and European
markets, where IMS and IRI are well positioned to assess regional and
local trends - from the increasing number of prescription drugs
available over-the-counter in the United States, to the growing role
of mass market channels for consumer health products in Europe.

"Today's global prescription, over-the-counter and consumer
packaged goods markets are rapidly converging, creating the need for a
unified view of product performance supported by predictive
analytics," observed IRI President and Chief Executive Officer John
Freeland. "This alliance will lead to a better understanding of
prescription and OTC purchases, and their relationship to consumer
packaged goods purchasing activity. As a result, manufacturers and
retailers will be able to better understand consumers' evolving
healthcare choices in a more holistic, meaningful way."

According to IMS and IRI estimates, the global consumer health
market is valued at $400 billion, and is expected to grow six percent
annually during the next five years.

The IRI Healthcare Solutions Group provides pharmaceutical,
healthcare and worldwide consumer goods companies, as well as
retailers, with consumer intelligence and analytic services. IMS
tracks more than 1 million healthcare products daily, covering over 70
percent of all pharmaceutical sales transactions worldwide - and more
than 90 percent of transactions in the United States.

About IMS

Operating in more than 100 countries, IMS Health is the world's
leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and
healthcare industries. With $2.0 billion in 2006 revenue and more than
50 years of industry experience, IMS offers leading-edge market
intelligence products and services that are integral to clients'
day-to-day operations, including portfolio optimization capabilities;
launch and brand management solutions; sales force effectiveness
innovations; managed care and consumer health offerings; and
consulting and services solutions that improve ROI and the delivery of
quality healthcare worldwide.

As a global leader in protecting individual patient privacy, IMS
uses de-identified healthcare data to deliver critical, real-world
disease and treatment insights. These insights help medical
researchers, government agencies, and healthcare and pharmaceutical
companies identify unmet treatment needs and understand the
effectiveness and value of pharmaceutical products in improving
overall health outcomes. Additional information is available at
http://www.imshealth.com.

About Information Resources, Inc.

IRI is the world's leading provider of consumer, shopper, and
retail market information, insights and decision solutions to 95
percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 consumer packaged goods (CPG),
healthcare and retail companies. Only IRI offers the unique
combination of integrated market and shopper information, automated
analytics and predictive insights, innovative technology, and domain
expertise. With IRI, leading manufacturers and retailers are able to
drive their growth by quickly discovering breakthrough insights,
making smarter decisions, taking faster actions across the enterprise,
and achieving breakthrough results. Companies around the world depend
on IRI for technology and solutions that enable brand building,
successful new product launches, consumer-driven merchandising/retail
execution and consumer and shopper relationship management. For more
information, visit http://us.infores.com.